Afghanistan

A negotiated end to the 17-year conflict in Afghanistan “has never been more real…than it is now”, the head of the United Nations peace mission in the country has said, highlighting a series of important milestones achieved over recent months.

As gender-equality advocates discuss how a lasting peace can be secured in Afghanistan, the top UN official in the country has underscored the importance of women’s participation as “vital to ending the conflict and ensuring long-lasting stability.”

People are “used to the suffering we see in Afghanistan,” the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Director of Emergency and Rehabilitation, Dominique Burgeon says, and the country needs urgent support to combat a major crisis in the face of drought and conflict.

A high-level international conference on Afghanistan got underway at the UN in Geneva on Tuesday to show solidarity for the war-torn country’s people and help strengthen Government efforts to promote development, along with wider peace and security.

Drought in Afghanistan has left more than 3.6 million people “barely surviving” and displaced some 250,000 people from rural areas, the UN’s Deputy Special Representative for Afghanistan said on Monday. Toby Lanzer told Daniel Johnson of UN News, that 2019 could be "make or break" for the country.